Eritrea players missing in Kampala

Kampala (Alshahid)-Almost the entire Eritrean national football squad has been missing in the Ugandan capital Kampala, since Sunday, after the team was eliminated at the ongoing East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) senior Challenge Cup.

The footballers are believed to have absconded and hidden in the suburbs of the capital Kampala.

“We believe they have not flown out but are with relatives and friends in Kansanga or Nsambya where there is a large community of Eritreans,” police spokesman Iddi Ibin Ssenkumbi told reporters.

Senkumbi said the players, if found, would be subject to deportation from Uganda, adding police were looking for them “for their own safety.”

After the 2009 CECAFA tournament in Kenya, only the coach returned to Eritrea while the whole team absconded.

Some Eritrean athletes also went missing at this year’s London Olympics.

The Eritrean team was eliminated from the regional championship at the group stage after drawing with Zanzibar 0-0, losing 3-2 to Malawi and being beaten 2-0 by Rwanda in their last match on Saturday.